List of underwater science fiction works

The following list is a collection of media, including novels, comic books, films, television series, and video games, that take place in part or significantly underwater or prominently feature underwater environments and other underwater aspects incorporated with the science fiction genre, which it is a subgenre of. Underwater science fiction is considered to have first appeared with Jules Verne's classic 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Literature[edit]

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1870)
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (1875)
"In the Abyss" by H. G. Wells (1896 short story)
The Scarlet Empire by David M. Parry (1906)
The Sunken World by Stanton A Coblentz (1928)
The Maracot Deep by Arthur Conan Doyle (1929)
Attack from Atlantis by Lester del Rey (1953)
The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke (1953 short story; 1957 novel)
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (1953)^[1]
The Dragon in the Sea by Frank Herbert (1956)^[1]
Dolphin Island by Arthur C. Clarke (1963)
The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard (1966)
The Godwhale by T. J. Bass (1974)
The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea (1975)
Startide Rising by David Brin (1983)^[1]
Sphere by Michael Crichton (1987)^[1]
Rocheworld by Robert L. Forward (1990)^[2]
Undersea Trilogy by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson (1992, omnibus edition)
Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten (1997)
The Trench by Steve Alten (1999)
Goliath by Steve Alten (2002)
The Scar by China Mieville (2002)^[1]
Meg: Primal Waters by Steve Alten (2004)
The Swarm by Frank Schätzing (2004)^[1]
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (2004)^[1]
The Loch by Steve Alten (2005)
Meg: Hell's Aquarium by Steve Alten (2009)
Low comics series by Rick Remender and Greg Rocchini (2014–2020)
Meg: Nightstalkers by Steve Alten (2016)
Meg: Generations by Steve Alten (2018)

Films[edit]

The Impossible Voyage (1904)
Under the Seas (1907)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
The Mysterious Island (1929)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
The Atomic Submarine (1959)
On the Beach (1959)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
Atragon (1963)
City Under the Sea (1965)
Around the World Under the Sea (1966)
Destination Inner Space (1966)
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969)
Latitude Zero (1969)
City Beneath the Sea (1971)
The Neptune Factor (1973)
Warlords of Atlantis (1978)
The Amazing Captain Nemo (1978)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1985)
The Abyss (1989)
DeepStar Six (1989)
Leviathan (1989)
Lords of the Deep (1989)
The Rift (1990)
Waterworld (1995)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997, Hallmark)
Sphere (1998)
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001, animated)
Deep Shock (2003)
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015, animated)
Deep (2017, animated)
Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)
Aquaman (2018)
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman – Rage of Atlantis (2018, animated)
DC Super Hero Girls: Legends of Atlantis (2018, animated)
The Meg (2018), based on the Steve Alten novel series
Deep Blue Sea 3 (2020)
Underwater (2020)
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
The Black Demon (2023)
Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
Iron Lung (upcoming)

Television[edit]

Tales of Adventure (1952)
Stingray (1964 series)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968 series)
Captain Fathom (1965)
Sealab 2020 (1972 series)
Captain Nemo (1975 miniseries)
The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo (1975)
Man from Atlantis (1977–1978 series)
The Return of Captain Nemo (1978)
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990–1991 series)
Willy Fog 2 (1993)
seaQuest DSV (1993–1996 series, episodes)
Ocean Girl (1994–1997 series, episodes)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997 miniseries)
Sealab 2021 (2000–2005 series, episodes)
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (2004)
The Deep (2010 miniseries)
The Deep (2015–2021 series)
Thunderbirds Are Go (2015–2020 series)
Nautilus (TBA)

Plays[edit]

Journey Through the Impossible (1882)

Video games[edit]

seaQuest DSV (1994)
X-COM: Terror from the Deep (1995)
Archimedean Dynasty (1996)
The Abyss: Incident at Europa (1998)
Submarine Titans (2000)
AquaNox franchise (2001–2020)
The Secret of the Nautilus (2002)
BioShock (2007)
BioShock 2 (2010)
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea (2013–14)
Subnautica (2014)
SOMA (2015)
Subnautica: Below Zero (2019)
In Other Waters (2020)
Iron Lung (2022)
Barotrauma (2023)

Toys[edit]

Lego Aquazone (1995–1998)
Lego Aqua Raiders (2007–08)
Lego Atlantis (2010–11)

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "The Top 10 Underwater Science Fiction Books". best-sci-fi-books.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
^ "10 Great Underwater Sci-fi and Fantasy Works". Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.

External links[edit]

[auto-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "The Top 10 Underwater Science Fiction Books". best-sci-fi-books.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.

[bookriot-2] "10 Great Underwater Sci-fi and Fantasy Works". Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.

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v t e Narrative
Character	Antagonist Archenemy Character arc Character flaw Characterization Confidant Deuteragonist False protagonist Focal character Foil Gothic double Hamartia Hero Anti Byronic Tragic Narrator Protagonist Stock character Straight man Supporting character Title character Tritagonist Villain
Plot	Ab ovo Action Backstory Origin story Chekhov's gun Cliché Cliffhanger Conflict Deus ex machina Dialogue Dramatic structure Eucatastrophe Foreshadowing Flashback Flashforward Frame story In medias res Kishōtenketsu MacGuffin Pace Plot device Plot twist Poetic justice Red herring Reveal Self-insertion Shaggy dog story Stereotype Story arc Story within a story Subplot Suspense Trope
Setting	Alternate history Backstory Crossover Dreamworld Dystopia Fictional location city country universe parallel Utopia Worldbuilding
Theme	Irony Leitmotif Metaphor Moral Moral development Motif Deal with the Devil Conflict between good and evil Self-fulfilling prophecy Time travel
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Structure	Act Act structure Three-act structure Freytag's Pyramid Exposition/Protasis Rising action/Epitasis Climax/Peripeteia Falling action/Catastasis Denouement/Catastrophe Linear narrative Nonlinear narrative films television series Premise Types of fiction with multiple endings
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Narration	Diegesis First-person Second-person Third-person Third-person omniscient narrative Subjectivity Unreliable narrator Multiple narrators Stream of consciousness Stream of unconsciousness
Tense	Past Present Future
Related	Dominant narrative Fiction writing Continuity Canon Reboot Retcon Parallel novel Prequel / Sequel Genre List Literary science Literary theory Narrative identity Narrative paradigm Narrative therapy Narratology Metafiction Political narrative Rhetoric Glossary Screenwriting Storytelling Tellability Verisimilitude